Related papers: Cascading on extragalactic background light
LS 5039 is a Galactic binary system emitting high and very-high energy gamma rays. The gamma-ray flux is modulated on the orbital period and the TeV lightcurve shaped by photon-photon annihilation. The observed very-high energy modulation…
Propagation of ultra-high energy photons in the galactic and intergalactic space gives rise to cascades comprising thousands of photons. Using Monte Carlo simulations, we investigate the development of such cascades in the solar…
Very high energy (VHE, E > 30 GeV) gamma-rays are absorbed via interaction with low-energy photons from the extragalactic background light (EBL) if the involved photon energies are above the threshold for electron-positron pair creation.…
The background radiations in the optical and the infrared constitute a relevant cause of energy loss in the propagation of high energy particles through space. In particular, TeV observations with Cherenkov telescopes of extragalactic…
The Extragalactic Background Light (EBL) is the integrated light from all the stars that have ever formed, and spans the IR-UV range. The interaction of very-high-energy (VHE: E>100 GeV) gamma-rays, emitted by sources located at…
The extragalactic background light (EBL) is one of the fundamental observational quantities in cosmology. All energy releases from resolved and unresolved extragalactic sources, and the light from any truly diffuse background, excluding the…
We consider the neutron star (NS) of the magnetar type inside the massive binary system. We determine the conditions under which the matter from the stellar wind can penetrate the inner magnetosphere of the magnetar. At some distance from…
The measurement of $\gamma$-rays originating from active galactic nuclei offers the unique opportunity to study the propagation of very-high-energy photons over cosmological distances. Most prominently, $\gamma$-rays interact with the…
The presence of weak intergalactic magnetic fields can be studied by their effect on electro-magnetic cascades induced by multi-TeV gamma-rays in the cosmic radiation background. Small deflections of secondary electrons and positrons as the…
In this paper intergalatic electromagnetic cascades are used as a probe of cosmic ray sources. This is achieved as follows. In extragalactic space cosmic rays initiate electromagnetic cascades in which gamma-ray and neutrino emission…
A subset of blazars emit TeV gamma rays which annihilate and pair produce on the extragalactic background light. We have argued in Broderick et al. (2011, Paper I) that plasma beam instabilities can dissipate the pairs' energy locally. This…
Recent observations of the TeV gamma-ray spectra of the two closest active galactic nuclei (AGNs), Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) and Markarian 421 (Mrk 421), by the Whipple and HEGRA collaborations have stimulated efforts to estimate or limit the…
We present a very brief overview of some recent gamma-ray observations of selected blazars to reveal an indication for a considerable or even dominant contribution of secondary gamma-rays from electromagnetic cascades to the observable…
Very high energy (VHE; energy $E \gtrsim 100\,$GeV) $\gamma$-rays originating from extragalactic sources undergo pair production with low-energy photons of background radiation fields. These pairs can inverse-Compton-scatter background…
High frequency peaked high redshift blazars, are extreme in the sense that their spectrum is particularly hard and peaks at TeV energies. Standard leptonic scenarios require peculiar source parameters and/or a special setup in order to…
Context: Part of the very high energy $\gamma$-ray radiation coming from extragalactic sources is absorbed through the pair production process on the extragalactic background light photons. Extragalactic magnetic fields alter the…
The extragalactic background light (EBL), the cumulative radiation from all extragalactic sources, traces galaxy formation and cosmic evolution. High-energy $\gamma$ rays attenuated via pair production with EBL photons are a powerful probe…
Very high-energy gamma-rays (VHE, E>100 GeV) propagating over cosmological distances can interact with the low-energy photons of the extragalactic background light (EBL) and produce electron-positron pairs. The transparency of the universe…
We make a new estimate of the extragalactic radio background down to kHz frequencies based on the observed luminosity functions and radio spectra of normal galaxies and radio galaxies. We have constructed models for the spectra of these two…
Structure formation in the intergalactic medium (IGM) produces large-scale, collisionless shock waves, where electrons can accelerate to highly relativistic energies. Such electrons can Compton scatter cosmic microwave background photons up…